This article was written by Rose Owens, New Business Account Manager at eCoast.
Lately, the social media buzz has given us all a chance to re-evaluate our marketing strategies. Do I need to implement a social networking strategy? How do I justify spending the time and resources on social media? What is the value to me? For most of us, these can be very hard questions to answer, especially when trying to justify the “time” investment.
It’s a simple answer really; social media is the latest and greatest outlet for you to gain exposure and turn that into business. Rather than thinking of social media as an expenditure (I know you all do it… takes time and resources to develop a good social network), think of it as an investment that will continue to work for you. Social media is a large part of inbound marketing, and should be included in your overall marketing strategy.
I am a firm believer that we should invest in both inbound, and outbound strategies, (appointment setting, email blasts). You may think that because you just spent an exuberant amount of money developing a new website, that you are all set. In reality, you probably just wasted all that money on an aesthetic billboard that has not brought you any significant exposure because you are not using “social media channels” to drive traffic.
We all know that Traffic = Interest, and that interest drives more leads for you to capture.
In theory, these leads should turn into more business…so why the disconnect? Why is social media questionable?
Like most of you, I am at an elementary level when it comes to social media. Yes, I use Twitter, have a profile on LinkedIn, and am writing this blog for my company, but I am also a beginner. I am just a very anxious beginner! I have attended a few webinars on the subject, and they all contain similar views. In short, they all state that social media enables you to build better customer relationships, build a better brand identity, and leverage the “social” information highway to build on existing relationships and networks.
Still not ready to hop on the social media bandwagon?
I came across an article called “9 reasons you NEED social media marketing in 2009”
It is simple. Here are my top 4:
- Your competition is doing it.
- Your customers are using it.
- Your vendors and partners are using it.
- And lastly, social media acts as a distribution point.
So, in reality, when you are thinking about how to generating interest through marketing, think inbound, think networking, and use social media to maximize your exposure. Using social media enables you to focus your energy on developing a network of people that are genuinely interested in you and your business.
I welcome your comments!
Feel free to browse our recent webinar: Social Media Networking for the Channel
